International names include Syowia Kyambi, Edith Dekyndt and Julieta Gil, with the exhibition being co-curated by Elise Billiard Pisani & Margerita Pulè.

All participating artists are, Florinda Camilleri & Abigail Agius, Charlie Cauchi, Edith Dekyndt, Katel Delia, Rachael Fallon, Julieta Gil, Syowia Kyambi, Fatima Mazmouz & Francesca Saraullo.

The exhibition intends to appreciate these ordinary lives without idealising or aggrandising, through an archival lens that zeroes in on women’s lives.

It thus presents an alternative to the hero-making of individuals which tends to dominate narratives and has historically been male-focused.

The rhetoric around feminism often focuses on the achievement of individual women, in an effort to justify their equality with men through the accomplishments of a small number of
successful individuals.

This celebration of individual breakthroughs leaves little space in which to acknowledge the value of ‘everywoman’ – with women often taking care of essential responsibilities which are unrecognised and undervalued. It also fails to address the fundamental inequalities of the binary gender model in the structure of cultural, political, familial and social life.

Through the juxtaposition and interaction of existing and specifically created multi-media works by diverse artists, the exhibition attempts to examine the political and social realities around women’s (and thus humanity’s) ‘ordinary’ lives.

It also asks audiences to recognise that ‘ordinary’ women have been pushed to extraordinary acts when their rights and lives have come under threat.

Finally, it acknowledges its own geographical context, with Malta being an island nation in the Mediterranean, facing universal as well as specific realities in terms of women’s rights.

This exhibition has been made possible through a collaboration between Unfinished Art Space and BRAŻŻA Art Residency, and is part of the Spazju Kreattiv 2021 / 2022 Cultural Programme. It is supported by APS Bank, the Melita Foundation, and Arts Council Malta, as well as the Embassy of France and the Embassy of Ireland in Malta.

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